ඥානය පිළිබඳ බෞද්ධ විග්‍රහය: සම කාලීන ඥාන මාර්ග සමඟ තුලනාත්මක අධ්‍යයනයක්

Abstract

It is noticed that the Buddha classified his predecessors and contemporaries in respect of the ways of knowledge, possessed by them as the Traditionalists, the Rationalists, and the Experientialists. In his address to the Kâlâmas, he criticises six ways of knowing based on authority and four ways of knowing based on reason on the ground that beliefs based on authority or reason may turn out to be true or he ends on the note that one should accept a proposition as true only when one has personal knowledge of it, taking into account the views of the wise. This emphasis on personal and direct knowledge is found throughout the Nikâyas and in trying to determine the ways of knowing recognised in the Canon, it is necessary to see clearly what was meant by this kind of knowledge. The fact that the Buddha claimed to be one of the recluses and Brahmins, who had a personal higher knowledge of a doctrine not found among doctrines traditionally handed down is clear evidence that the Buddha did not claim or consider himself to have a unique way of knowing denied to others.